For Older Adults, Hawaii Leads U.S. States in Well-Being

Story Highlights

Hawaii again leads U.S. in well-being among older residents

West Virginia's older residents have lowest well-being

Hawaii, Arizona among top five states in three well-being elements

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For the second consecutive year, Hawaii led all U.S. states in well-being among residents aged 55 and over, with a Well-Being Index score of 67.0. The other four states with a Well-Being Index score of 65 or higher are Arizona, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Colorado. West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Ohio and Indiana are the states with the lowest well-being among older residents, unchanged from last year.

States With Highest and Lowest Well-Being Among Residents Aged 55+

State

Well-Being Index Score

State

Well-Being Index Score

Hawaii

67.0

West Virginia

59.9

Arizona

65.2

Kentucky

61.2

New Hampshire

65.2

Oklahoma

62.0

North Dakota

65.2

Ohio

62.5

Colorado

65.1

Indiana

62.7

Alaska

64.9

Vermont

62.7

Minnesota

64.9

Georgia

62.9

Wisconsin

64.9

Missouri

62.9

Iowa

64.7

Arkansas

62.9

South Dakota

64.7

New Jersey

62.9

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Q1 2015 through Q1 2016

These state-level data are based on more than 115,000 interviews with U.S. adults across all 50 states, conducted from Jan. 2, 2015, through March 31, 2016. The Well-Being Index is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, where 0 represents the lowest possible well-being and 100 represents the highest possible well-being. The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index scores for the nation and for each state consist of metrics affecting overall well-being and each of the five essential elements of well-being:

Purpose: liking what you do each day and being motivated to achieve your goals

Community: liking where you live, feeling safe and having pride in your community

Physical: having good health and enough energy to get things done daily

In most cases, a difference of 1.0 point in the Well-Being Index score between any two states represents a statistically significant gap.

Hawaii Leads All States in Three Elements of Well-Being

Hawaii holds the highest well-being of older residents in three of the five elements: purpose, community and physical well-being. Older residents of Arizona, South Carolina and Florida report the highest social well-being, while those living in North Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota lead in financial well-being. Across the five elements, Hawaii and Arizona each rank among the top five states three times, while Iowa, New Hampshire and North Dakota each appear twice.

West Virginia's older residents report the lowest purpose, social and physical well-being, and rank among the five states with the lowest well-being in all five elements. Older residents of Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana have the lowest financial well-being, while those living in New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland report the lowest community well-being.

States With Highest Well-Being Across Each Element

Purpose

Social

Financial

Community

Physical

Hawaii

Arizona

North Dakota

Hawaii

Hawaii

Mississippi

South Carolina

Iowa

Montana

Colorado

Texas

Florida

Minnesota

North Dakota

New Hampshire

Arizona

New Hampshire

Alaska

South Dakota

Connecticut

Alabama

Maryland

Wisconsin

Iowa

Arizona

States With Lowest Well-Being Across Each Element

Purpose

Social

Financial

Community

Physical

West Virginia

West Virginia

Mississippi

New Jersey

West Virginia

Vermont

Wyoming

Georgia

West Virginia

Kentucky

Kentucky

Vermont

Louisiana

Maryland

Oklahoma

Massachusetts

Montana

South Carolina

Illinois

Arkansas

New Jersey

Kentucky

West Virginia

Connecticut

Tennessee

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Q1 2015 through Q1 2016

Older Residents of New Hampshire Have Largest Well-Being Advantage

New Hampshire's older residents have the largest well-being advantage compared with the general population of the state, with residents aged 55 or older having a Well-Being Index score of 65.2 compared with 62.1 for residents overall -- a difference of 3.1 points. For comparison, older adults in the U.S. generally have higher well-being compared with the broader adult population, with an average gap of 1.7 points. The well-being edge for New Hampshire's older residents significantly boosts its state ranking from 21st for the overall population to the third-highest among residents aged 55 and older. Three other states with notably higher well-being among older residents compared with the general population are North Dakota, Mississippi and Oregon.

States in Which Well-Being of Older Residents Is Most Significantly Better Than That of All Residents

Well-Being Index Score

Well-Being Index Score

Difference

All adults

55 and older

New Hampshire

62.1

65.2

3.1

North Dakota

62.3

65.2

2.9

Mississippi

60.9

63.8

2.9

Oregon

61.7

64.3

2.6

GALLUP-HEALTHWAYS WELL-BEING INDEX, Q1 2015 THROUGH Q1 2016

The older residents in four states have a much smaller advantage or no advantage in well-being compared with the overall population: Wyoming, Montana, Utah and Alaska. In each of these states, the Well-Being Index score among older residents is the same as or only slightly higher than the score found among all adults in the state.

States in Which Well-Being of Older Residents Is Closest to That of All Residents

Well-Being Index Score

Well-Being Index Score

Difference

All adults

55 and older

Wyoming

63.5

63.5

0.0

Montana

63.8

64.2

0.4

Utah

63.1

63.8

0.7

Alaska

64.1

64.9

0.8

Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index, Q1 2015 through Q1 2016

Each of these four states ranked in the top 10 for highest overall well-being in 2015. So while there is not a large jump in well-being among older residents, the high well-being found among the general adult population is preserved. These results suggest that one common characteristic of the nation's states with the highest well-being is high well-being across age groups rather than just among those who are older, underscoring a broader and deeper culture of well-being that might not be present elsewhere.

"People in the United States are now living significantly longer than prior generations, a trend that stands to continue," said Joe Coughlin, founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology AgeLab. "As a nation, we must improve upon advances in well-being while developing new strategies to help Americans age well and thrive in later life."

"Our research paints a powerful picture of how we age as a population, and the important link between the physical and social aspects of well-being, especially for older Americans," said Dr. Sheri Pruitt, Ph.D., vice president and chief behavioral scientist at Healthways. "When older adults thrive, they are more active, assert good physical and mental health, and achieve higher life satisfaction."

For the complete state well-being rankings for older Americans, read thefull report.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews conducted Jan. 2, 2015, to March 31, 2016, as part of the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index survey, with a random sample of 115,572 adults, aged 55 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The margin of sampling error for most states is about ±1.5 points, although this increases to about ±2.1 points for the smallest-population states such as North Dakota, Wyoming, Hawaii and Delaware.

All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting.

Recommended

Naples-Immokalee-Marco Island, Florida, had the highest well-being of 190 metro areas Gallup and Healthways surveyed in 2014-2015. Charleston, West Virginia, had the lowest. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, California, led all large metro areas.